Chapter 30

Leaning against the elevator wall, Sebastian said flatly, “What I think won’t change anything.”

Abigail silently agreed with his words. She knew she had to swallow the truth and keep it buried, no matter how unfair it felt.

As they stepped out of the elevator, Abigail began to share what life was like in prison with Sebastian. “When I was there, every single thing had to be done at the exact same time each day. The only moments I ever really felt the passage of time were during outdoor breaks or rest periods.”

Sebastian slowed his steps and turned his head toward her. He noticed that she wore no makeup, revealing no visible emotion.

Abigail added, “Whenever I was studying language and whenever my mind was filled with something that didn’t belong to that place, I felt like I was still human, and I was still alive.”

Sebastian’s lips pressed into a thin line. It was a long while before he said in a low voice, “You’ve got talent for this. At Halden Group, you’ll have plenty of chances to get even better.”

“Thank you. I’ll do my best,” replied Abigail.

She was truly grateful – not just for his lack of prejudice, but for giving her the opportunity to prove herself.

Getting out of the elevator, they returned to their own rooms.

Abigail noticed something had shifted within her. She couldn’t quite put a name to it, only that the tension she’d been carrying since leaving prison had lessened. There was a bit more ease in her chest.

The hotel room she stayed in was far bigger and much more beautiful than her own room in Gibson Villa.

Abigail walked over to the bed and pressed her palm into the mattress. It felt incredibly soft. The whole room had irresistible coziness, the kind that made her want to collapse into sleep in an instant. Just one look could make her feel wrapped in a dream.

She recalled Sebastian mentioning that Jeremiah had prepared some essentials for the trip. Scanning the room, she spotted some shopping bags placed on the armchair by the window, and she walked over.

The entire chair was covered with bags. When she caught sight of the luxury brand logos printed on the bags, she hesitated and pulled her hand back.

Jeremiah even bought two sets of underwear. From top to bottom, that must’ve cost a fortune, she thought.

Abigail had never worn anything so expensive, but she remembered Daniella once telling her that luxury clothes weren’t meant to be worn often since they couldn’t be washed.

Most people would just wear them a few times and send them off to high-end boutiques for special treatment, and after that, they’d just stay in the closet.

Abigail thought about contacting Jeremiah to return everything and replace them with something more ordinary, but she didn’t have his number.

Besides, she considered taking a shower, but she didn’t bring any clothes to change into.

Just as she was feeling stuck, her phone buzzed. It was a message from Sebastian: If the clothes or shoes don’t fit, let me know. I’ll have them replaced.

She stared at the message, lost in thought. It’s strange. Why is Sebastian being so nice to me? Why is he handling these things himself?

She replied: The clothes and shoes are too expensive. Is it possible to swap them for something more ordinary?

After hitting send, she exhaled softly and perched on the armrest of the sofa, waiting for a reply.

A few minutes later, Sebastian responded. These things used to be ordinary too. It’s people who give them value, you know?

His words made her uncomfortable, not because of his tone, but because they struck at something deep inside.

Even after living with the Gibson family for a while, a part of her still believed she wasn’t good enough for anything fancy. She could pretend not to care, but when someone gave her something expensive, she always felt like she didn’t deserve it.

Abigail replied: Got it. And just like that, she stopped feeling so panicked about the price tags.

After a hot shower, Abigail lay down to rest in her room.

In truth, more than designer clothes, what she really wanted was a high-performance laptop, a portable one with enough power to run heavy code. She had looked into the prices, which would cost a few thousand dollars.

She didn’t want to be an average coder. She needed a machine with real productivity, not just speed. But she didn’t have the money for that kind of investment.

Writing code with her phone had limitations. She couldn’t even test whether her code would run properly without errors on a real system.

Around lunchtime, there was a knock on the door.

Abigail got up and walked to the entrance. When she opened the door, she saw Jackson standing there. She asked, “What’s up?”

“It’s lunchtime. You need someone to drag you out of bed?” Jackson replied, clearly annoyed.

Abigail thought the food would be delivered to the room. Jackson’s severe tone made her a bit embarrassed, and she replied, “I thought the staff would send the food to my room.”

Jackson scowled and turned to leave, but not before throwing another jab. “You could’ve asked first, couldn’t you? You need to remember–you’re an employee. You should follow your boss’s schedule. Don’t just passively wait for instructions.”

“I’m sorry. I will keep that in mind,” Abigail said. Though she was scolded, she wasn’t angry at all. In fact, she felt like Jackson was teaching her something important about workplace behavior.

Hearing her tone—calm and without the slightest trace of resentment–Jackson glanced back at her. His eyes caught on the high-end outfit she was now wearing.

His expression turned slightly dark as he thought, “Now that she wears designer clothes, she looks like an executive. Makes it feel like I’m the only one here doing grunt work.”

They arrived at the restaurant on the second floor. Abigail spotted Sebastian already seated by the window. He had removed both his mask and sunglasses.

As Abigail approached, she realized he was wearing a prosthetic face mask–one crafted to match his skin tone perfectly. It wasn’t obvious from afar, but up close…